Harvey Norman stays ahead of the curve with LG G Flex exclusive

LG Electronics Australia has announced that Harvey Norman will be the first retailer to get its hands on the brands innovative new curved and flexible smartphone when it launches in Australia.

Shown off as one of the flagship devices of LG’s range at the International CES in Las Vegas last week, the LG G Flex has been available in South Korea since November 2013. Following CES, the device is set to quickly make its way to the Australian market, arriving in stores in February.

As part of the exclusive launch with Harvey Norman, the G Flex will be available for outright purchase as an unlocked handset, or for purchase with a number of Optus ‘My Plans’. LG is also promising that consumers who purchase the device at Harvey Norman and connect it to an Optus My Plan will receive a $200 Harvey Norman gift voucher.

We’re thrilled to be the exclusive retailer of the LG ‘G Flex’ in Australia. LG’s latest smartphone shows true innovation and we are always looking to deliver new and exciting products to our customers. We believe consumers will be truly amazed by everything the LG G Flex has to offer.

LG Australia general manager marketing Lambro Skropidis was also excited about the upcoming launch of the G Flex, which the brand is billing as the “first smartphone of its kind from LG” thanks to its unique form factor:

The G Flex represents LG’s commitment to innovative design and breakthrough technology and we are extremely excited to launch the model in Australia exclusively with Harvey Norman. The G Flex brings together ground-breaking design with intuitive functionality and hardware, and is testament to the huge progress LG is making in the smartphone industry. The handset has been well received in other markets and we anticipate that many in Australia will also be excited by this trend setting technology.

LG engineers were required to design a new curved battery to fit inside the phone, which features a 6-inch HD P-OLED display (LG speak for plastic OLED) and a “self-healing” coating on the rear that is designed to resist scratches and wear.

Showing off the device to Appliance Retailer in Las Vegas last week, Skropidis said the curved design followed the contours of the face to bring the mouth closer to the microphone for clearer phone calls, while the shape offered a “much more immersive” entertainment experience, similar to a curved TV. It is elements like these that Skropidis hopes will set LG apart in the marketplace.

“There are people that are doing some cool, really innovative things in the [smartphone] category right now, and we’re really looking to make a serious in-road into the phone market in the next few years,” he said. “So we’re doing some really high-end innovation.”

The LG G Flex will launch in February, exclusively with Harvey Norman.